Nine years before IL TROVATORE took the prize for Verdi's most outlandish story line--with gypsies, stolen babies and mistaken identities--there was ERNANI, with a different kind of complicated plot to make your head spin. The Met's current revival of its 1983 production of the opera stars a formidable quartet: soprano Angela Meade, tenor Franceso Meli, bass-baritone Dmitry Belosselskiy and, last but certainly not least, tenor/baritone Placido Domingo.
I never ran a marathon, but I sure sat through one the other night at the Met. Richard Wagner's DIE MEISTERSINGER clocked in at six hours--a quarter of a day--without a god or flying horse in sight. And while the composer referred to this as a comedy, it's not exactly “I Love Lucy” (nor, for that matter, LE NOZZE DI FIGARO).
Puccini's LA BOHEME has that magical ability to change its shape depending on the cast. When Pavarotti sang, it became his opera, with a Mimi hard pressed to take the spotlight, even in her death scene. When Stratas, Carreras and Scotto (as Musetta) led the cast, it became a glittery ensemble of shooting stars. At this week's performance with rising star Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva as Mimi, there was no doubt that she was the evening's “it” girl, even though the other principal singers added mightily to the performance's success.
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 65 countries around the world, will feature ten operas in the 2014-15 season, including all six new productions in the Met season. All ten performances, transmitted live from the Met stage, will feature the world's finest singers, conductors, and theatrical artists.
I thought someone spiked the water cooler backstage at the Met during the first half of LA BOHEME on March 19.
Tenor Vittorio Grigolo's Rodolfo jumped around in the opening scene like he had too much caffeine or needed medication for hyperactivity (think Ritalin). Charming, yes, boyish, definitely, but when he professed his love for Mimi after half an hour's acquaintance, one wondered whether he didn't need something to calm him down. And he wasn't alone.
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to more than 2,000 movie theaters in 65 countries around the world, will feature ten operas in the 2014-15 season, including all six new productions in the Met season. All ten performances, transmitted live from the Met stage, will feature the world's finest singers, conductors, and theatrical artists.
On Broadway, when a revival loses two out of three of its stars, the production might very well be put off until another season or, at worst, the producers might pack it in. In the opera world, companies don't have that luxury, particularly at a showplace like the Metropolitan Opera. Thus, we received Richard Strauss's DER ROSENKAVALIER, which made its season debut at the Met on Friday night, offering replacements in the two key roles of Sophie and Octavian, with variable results.
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will feature 10 productions in the 2013-14 season, offering a significant portion of the Met season to opera lovers around the world.
What would the Metropolitan Opera (and its audiences) do without its production of Francis Poulenc's DIALOGUES DES CARMELITES, which opened for the season with Saturday's matinee, May 4? As created in 1977 for its Met premiere by director John Dexter, this CARMELITES is unlike anything else in the company's repertoire--simply designed and a showcase for a brilliant ensemble of female voices. It is a reminder that opera productions can be moving, effective and, yes, thrilling in the most understated ways.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters, will feature 10 productions in the 2013-14 season, offering a significant portion of the Met season to opera lovers around the world.
The Metropolitan Opera's 2013-14 season will feature many of the world's greatest singers, conductors, and theater artists in 26 operas, including six new productions, of a varied repertory that ranges from the Baroque era to the 21st century. Met Music Director James Levine will return to the Met podium for the first time in two years, conducting three operas with which he has long been associated: a new production of Verdi's final masterpiece Falstaff, Mozart's Cosi fan tutte, and Berg's Wozzeck. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be conducting two operas in the 2013-14 season, Rossini's La Cenerentola and Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
The Met: Live in HD, the Metropolitan Opera's award-winning series of live transmissions to movie theaters around the world, returns for a sixth season Saturday, October 15 with the Met premiere production of Donizetti's Anna Bolena, featuring Anna Netrebko in the title role.
Met Principal Guest Conductor Fabio Luisi will conduct his first house performances of Richard Strauss's tragicomic opera-within-an-opera, Ariadne auf Naxos, in a revival opening Saturday, May 10.
Puccini's La Fanciulla del West will return to the Met stage on December 6 for a series of performances commemorating the 100th anniversary of the opera's 1910 world premiere at the Met.
Giuseppe Verdi's popular masterpiece Rigoletto returns to the Met this season featuring five artists in their Met debuts and four performers singing major roles for the first time with the company. On September 29, Lado Ataneli sings the hunchback court jester and Christine Schäfer is his daughter Gilda, both adding new roles to their Met repertory. Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni makes his Met debut, as does Francesco Meli as the Duke of Mantua, Nino Surguladze as Maddalena, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Sparafucile. On October 5, George Gagnidze returns to the role of Rigoletto which he sang at the Met in 2009.
Giuseppe Verdi's popular masterpiece Rigoletto returns to the Met this season featuring five artists in their Met debuts and four performers singing major roles for the first time with the company. On September 29, Lado Ataneli sings the hunchback court jester and Christine Schäfer is his daughter Gilda, both adding new roles to their Met repertory. Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni makes his Met debut, as does Francesco Meli as the Duke of Mantua, Nino Surguladze as Maddalena, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Sparafucile. On October 5, George Gagnidze returns to the role of Rigoletto which he sang at the Met in 2009.
Giuseppe Verdi's popular masterpiece Rigoletto returns to the Met this season featuring five artists in their Met debuts and four performers singing major roles for the first time with the company. On September 29, Lado Ataneli sings the hunchback court jester and Christine Schäfer is his daughter Gilda, both adding new roles to their Met repertory. Conductor Paolo Arrivabeni makes his Met debut, as does Francesco Meli as the Duke of Mantua, Nino Surguladze as Maddalena, and Andrea Silvestrelli as Sparafucile. On October 5, George Gagnidze returns to the role of Rigoletto which he sang at the Met in 2009.
Starting April 23, Wagner's 'Der Fliegende Hollander' (The Flying Dutchman) returns to the New York Met for the first time since 2000, starring soprano Deborah Voigt in her Met role debut as Senta. When Voigt performed the role in 2005, the Boston Globe described her voice as "huge, bright, and refulgent." Juha Uusitalo brings his renowned interpretation of the mysterious Dutchman to the Met stage for the first time. Tenor Stephen Gould makes his Met debut as Erik, and bass Hans-Peter Konig sings Daland for the first time with the company. Kazushi Ono takes the Met podium to conduct. For the final performance, Philip Webb will sing the role of Erik. August Everding's production, which had its Met premiere in 1989, features set design by Hans Schavernoch, costumes by Lore Haas, and lighting by Gil Wechsler. Stephen Pickover is the Stage Director. Performances run through May 14.
